The major objective of the proposed research is to examine the attributional tendencies (how people ascribe the causes of their own behavior) of alcohol abusers; it is the assumption of attribution theory that the causative interpretations of one's actions are powerful motivational underpinnings of habit and, therefore, important considerations in intervention to modify such habits. Results from the proposed project will be applied to subsequent studies (not to be supported during the course of this project) which will involve modification of the attributional strategies of problem drinkers. Based on previous research by the principal investigator, attribution theorists (Jones & Nisbett, 1972; Weiner et al., 1971) and other investigations of the psychology of alcohol abuse, it is hypothesized: 1) that one's own alcohol consumption will be attributed to situational factors among social drinkers and abusers; 2) that the attribution of others' drinking, if such drinking results in non-common effects such as alcoholism, will be personal/dispositional; 3) that alcohol abusers who have undergone treatment will make personal attributions of their own behavior. Alcohol abuse will be assessed by the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test among samples of college students and non-students (before and after treatment) who will then be presented with vignettes describing success or failure of an alcohol abuser. Subjects will be asked to ascribe the causes of vignette-described behavior in a free-response mode either as actors or as observers. Alternate samples will be drawn from a college population and from two local agencies where pre-treatment and post-treatment alcohol abusers are served.